


Jeremike Oneshots

by Rosinide



Category: FNAF, Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: I'm gay so I'm writing gay, M/M, Please give me criticism if you can!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 22:58:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19365481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosinide/pseuds/Rosinide
Summary: A cute, fluffy-haired, green eyed night watch and a tough, uncaring, scar-covered day shift. What happens when they fall for each other? This fanfic is a bunch of one shots between the two, exploring different AU’s and timelines! Go ahead and comment if you want any of these to become a full fic.





	1. Hired

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Jeremike Collection](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/493153) by BamSaraKilledYou. 



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NOTE~!  
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Hey!! I’m Rosinide, I love Jeremike, and since I hated not being able to find new content I decided to start making my own! This is based off of BAMsarakilledyou’s FNAF au, since it’s been my favorite since I was a kid and it even inspired me to start writing and drawing :) Anyways! I hope you enjoy the story!  
\---

When Jeremy enters Fazbear’s Pizzeria, the first thing that hits him is that horrible mixture of grease and old dust in the air. It makes his nose scrunch and his hand hesitates to let go of the glass door as if he’d be unable to turn back if he does, being quick to recover however and take a few steps towards the pizzerias front counter. There, a teenage-looking worker with piercings nearly covering one whole ear and lime green, side shaved hair looks up from his phone with a bored expression, giving the boy a quick once-over before scooting closer to the register on his chair and getting ready to type. “Are you here for a party or need a ticket for one?”

“A-Actually, I...I was w-wondering if I could see your b-boss?” Jeremy speaks up and gives an apologetic smile since he knows this will only worsen the others mood, that worker holding in a sigh before standing up. The chair screeches a bit underneath him almost dramatically and he stuffs his phone in his side pocket as he goes off without another word, disappearing behind an ‘employee's only’ door where Jeremy can’t see him.

So far so good, he guesses. Then again he doesn’t have much to compare it to considering this is the first job interview he's gotten. Most places probably threw his resume out as soon as he left the doors considering he can rarely get a sentence out without stuttering up a storm. He needed a job that's NOT face to face with a customer and for a 17 year old in a small(-ish) town? Thats hard. That is...until he found this place.

It's only a few minutes until the worker comes back out with a large man, a cheerful smile on the newcomers face as he makes his way to the counter. The worker stays back by the door and Jeremy notes that he doesn’t pull his phone out, even standing straighter as if he knows what he can’t do around his boss. Must not be too laid back of a place after all. 

“Hello there! Jeremy, is it?” The man asks, hooking his thumb in his suspenders and looking down to the smaller boy. 

“Y-Yes, I’m Jeremy. You called me in for a job interview…?”

“That I did! Though you’re a bit early…” To emphasize his point, the boss glances at a pizza themed clock on the wall nearby, the hands signaling its about 4 pm, 45 minutes before he was supposed to be here. It's not like he could help it, his mom had to get to work and he needed a ride, it was now or never.

“A-Ah, I’m sorry about that...I ju-just didn’t want to be late.”

“Well you’re in luck, boy! We love punctual people here. Off to a great start now, aren’t you?” Behind him, Jeremy can see the worker roll his eyes before taking a peak at his phone in his pocket. Jerk.

“I-I guess, I-”

“How about we go back to my office?” The boss asks before walking out of the counter area through a small exit, having to squeeze through just a bit to do so. He pays it no mind however, heading down the open aisle and towards the stage without waiting for Jeremy’s answer, “You wanted to work night shift, right?”

“Y-Yes,” He’s quick to answer, having to walk faster than his usual pace to keep up with the man. He seems like he's rushing in a way, but that's not surprising. Despite the place falling apart, it's still one of the most popular children play places for miles around, the man must just have a lot to do at the moment. 

“That's just perfect, Jeremy, just perfect! Are you familiar with our business?”

“I used to come here as a kid a-a lot, it was one of my favorite pl-places to be,” He admits and can hear the man says something else, but as they get closer to the stage it's getting harder to hear him. The stage area is clear of children and with the buzzing noise in the air, Jeremy can figure out why. Up on the stage, the animatronics are unmoving as if they froze in the middle of a performance, a worker by the chicken themed one with a toolbox in hand as he works away in a small open side panel to show its inside parts. But...that's not the animatronics Jeremy remembers. They must have been replaced. These ones don’t look as furry as he recalls, being much more shiny and mechanical. In fact, they even look as if they’re made of cheap molded plastic, bolted together to hide their whirring mechanical pieces underneath. They certainly don’t look as loving as the past ones. 

“Ah yes,” Jeremy jumps and freezes where he's standing when a large hand clasps his shoulder, the boy being quick to realize it's just the boss. He's stopped by the stage, looking up at the robots himself with a frown, “Chica broke down today, her voice box is going crazy. Her beaks been fallin off when she moves, scares the kids half to death! Shouldn’t be a problem though! Our workers will get ‘er fixed up right away.” His smile comes back, more cheerful than ever as he lets Jeremy go and walks to the side of the stage, the boy now seeing there's another employee's door that the boss opens to let them in. He steps to the side so Jeremy can slip past him first, the boy doing so and taking a quick glance around the room to see where he is. Its a square sized room with a table right in the middle full of parts, boxes to the side labeled as various spare pieces and what looks to be a pile of lost and found items. Directly on the left wall is an exit covered with the stage curtains which must be how you’re supposed to get up there, Jeremy realizing he's getting a headache from the loud buzz coming from it that Chicas emitting, still able to hear it even from here. 

This must be the storage area. The other man doesn’t stay here for long as he closes the door behind them and heads straight to another door, heading in first himself with Jeremy right behind. This room seems to be a nice little office, the boss already sitting himself at the desk and digging around in the drawers. Theres paper scattered here and there that Jeremy has to be careful to not step on, sitting himself across from the man and patiently waiting for him to speak. After just a few seconds, he pulls out a paper and places it down in front of the boy, next taking a pen out of his suit pocket for Jeremy to use, “Sign here please!”

Jeremy takes that pen with a quizzical frown and looks down to the paper, scooting his chair closer to read. Damn himself for forgetting his reading glasses at home. “What for?”  
“I didn’t say?” Now it's the bosses turn to be confused, but it looks more like an act then anything as he goes back to grinning right after, “You got the job!”

“Wh-” This makes him look up from the paper and that confused look turns to one of surprise and shock, wondering if he just heard what he thinks he did. After all, theres still some of that annoying buzzing in his ears. There's no way, there was no job interview, no background check, nothing! “Are y-you kidding??”

“Of course not! Even better, you can start tonight,” The man gives a small wink before motioning to the paper, the font so tiny that jeremy has to squint to try and make it out, but even then it's too blurry to read. “Don’t worry too much about the details, it just stating that you accept to follow the employee handbook and will do everything in your power to make this a great workplace. All you have to do is sign here!” With that, the man's hand goes over the paper to point out where he needs to sign, effectively covering the text to make sure Jeremy can’t read it all. He doesn’t need to worry about it.

Theres slight hesitation before Jeremy takes the cap off the pen and leans forward, signing his name in cursive on the line before the boss takes it and rolls it up. “That's just perfect, Jeremy, just perfect. Can you start tonight?”  
“I-I can…-”

“Excellent! Be here by 10 pm. Your shift will be midnight to 6 am, but we can go over more details when you get here.” The boss stands up and tucks the paper into his side pocket, the top half sticking out since it hadn’t been folded enough. Jeremy stands with him and he gives the boss a handshake to confirm their deal, nervousness written all over the younger ones face as he tries to figure out what in the hell just happened.

It’s not until he walking out the front door of the pizza place does the realization finally hit him, a dumb grin appearing on his face as he walks to the bus stop down the road, a small skip to his step at the fact that he just got a job! 

Meanwhile, a man watches the door close behind the boy with icy blue eyes, a firm frown on his face and his arms crossed in front of his chest. He's leaning against the wall where he usually watches over the play area to make sure no kids get hurt, but at the moment...his gaze is quite distracted. He had seen his boss strut out of the repair room with a grin on his own face meaning his meeting with the potential employee went quite well...which also means there may just be another employee for this lovely establishment.

His tight frown furthers at such a fake statement. That's just what they need, another night guard name tag to add to the locker and another family to break the news to.

That kid’s not gonna last one damn night.

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NOTE~!  
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Hey guys, thank you for reading!! If you want to see more, please comment or like, and if you have any criticism please tell me! I need it to make my writing better :)


	2. Working (2/?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike gets stuck on the nightshift.

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NOTE!  
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I just wanted to take a second and thank my friend, _PokemonMasta14_ on Wattpad for making me an amazing cover (only visible on some sites) and helping me have the motivation on what to write!! They're amazing!!  
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“What brings you here?” A sudden voice makes Jeremy freeze as he walks into the security office, letting out a soft surprise gasp when he sees someone sitting at the office desk and fumbling to catch the tablet he was carrying from the locker room. He can’t exactly afford to drop and break it after all, they’ll take it from his paycheck for sure. The strangers feet are propped up on the desktop carelessly and in their hand is a half unwrapped Wendy’s burger, the man having been muffled when he talked considering he had a bite of the food in his mouth when he did so.

“Wh-Who are you!?” He asks, green eyes filled with confusion meeting icy blue that couldn’t care less. With an annoyed huff of breath, the man takes his feet off the table and sits up despite the chairs creak of protest, wrapping the burger up before setting it on the desk and pointing to the old name tag pinned to his shirt.

“I’m Mike. I’m your coworker, just here to show you the ropes before you get chucked into this hell.” That sounds like quite the over exaggeration to the boy, who now calms himself down and takes a good hard look at the ‘coworker’ sitting before him. He does recall seeing somebody like him over by the ball pits, having taken a quick note of how tense he holds himself and how he was glancing over to him from time to time as if trying to figure out who he was.

“Th-The boss didn’t say there was going to be a-anybody here…” Jeremy mumbles as he walks over, eyeing the metal folding chair Mike brought out for him, but not sitting just yet. However, Mike raises an eyebrow and at the fear of being judged by a coworker he quickly sits himself down, sitting on the edge furthest from the man however to keep as much distance as possible between the two of them.

“I’m guessing the boss didn’t show you how to operate this shit?” Mike says as he leans over and plucks the tablet the boy was carrying out of his hands, turning it in his palms before switching on the on button situated along the top. He doesn’t seem too keen on wasting time, Jeremy figures, might as well get this over with.

“N-No, he said there would be an-an operators manual in the desk drawers,” At that mention, Jeremy looks down at the drawer in front of his knees and scoots his chair back to be able to open it, frowning however when the inside of it is empty. In fact, there's even mold of some sort forming along the wood, making Jeremy shudder and quickly shut it again. That's not an operators manual.

“Yeah, he says a lot of things,” Mike mutters and flicks through a few of the cameras, keeping an eye on the clock so he doesn’t get stuck here all night helping the kid. He switched shifts for a reason, “Just watch, kid.”

“I’m n-not a kid-”

“Well you look like one. You gonna pay attention or not?” His rudeness makes Jeremy go a little red in the cheeks, but since he doesn’t know what position Mike has here he can’t exactly argue without fear of being fired. So with a slight huff he leans over just enough to see the screen, watching as Mike shows and explains where each room is to the security office. “-And this is the prize room. Pay attention to this one and keep the music box wound up.”

“...why? What's t-the point?”

“Just keep it wound up. These are the animatronics, you’ll want to keep an eye on each one and know where they are in the-”

“What's t-that one??” The boy interrupts him when he switches to one of the side rooms, labeled Kids Cove, leaning closer to point out what looks to be a mess of parts in the dark area of the room. Mike grumbles a bit from suddenly being cut off, not even having to take a closer look to know full well what Jeremys talking about.

“Mangle. Toy Foxy. Whatever the fuck you want to call that thing, you just need to keep it away from you.”

“What do you me-mean?”

“I mean its gonna bite your fucking limbs off, Jeremy.” At that statement, the new worker goes a bit silent and just stares at the tablet screen, soon however...laughing softly, “Is this a joke to you?”

“I-I mean…I’m sorry, but you keep saying we-weird stuff, sir, I just...the b-boss already told me they’ll wander around, that t-th-they might come here looking for pe-people, but…”

“Yeah, I know what he told you, so I’m telling you the truth. If those animatronic-fuckers find you, they will drag you to the spare parts room,” At this, Mike switches over to that room on the cameras, pointing out one of the spare suits lying around to hopefully drill this into Jeremy’s head, “And stuff you into one of these. You know what's in these things? Metal. Metal that will rip you apart and make you bleed out before 6 am. And even if it does reach morning? Ohoh There's no way they’ll be taking you to the hospital. They’ll leave you here to bleed out to death, lie to your family, and dispose of your body where nobodies ever gonna find it. Do you get it now, Jeremy?”

“W-Wha-”

“These things are out for blood. You need to keep them out of this room unless you have a goddamn death wish, kid.” The thought of arguing with being called kid doesn’t even come to Jeremy’s mind. In fact, nothing does. This all seems too fake to be real, but that look on Mike’s face...something in Jeremy’s gut is telling him this man isn’t out to scare him.

“You...How d-do you know so much…?”

“Because I used to be the night shift here, only stuck with it till we could get a replacement. I should have just kept it,” The man grumbles once again and shuts the tablet off, tossing it onto the desk without a care. The thud makes Jeremy flinch and he inches away to feel safer, glancing between the tablet and then back at the man. “You’re going to be here alone, do you understand that?”

“Th-This doesn’t feel r-re-real…”

“Doesn’t matter. It is. Now kid, you better-” Mike doesn’t even get to finish his sentence. The loud ringing of high-pitched bells throughout the building cuts him off the second midnight hits, a rock feeling as if its fallen in Mikes stomach as he quickly checks the watch on his wrist. He lost track of time and now… “God fucking damn it!” He's stuck here at night once again.

“M-Mike-?” Mike doesn’t even register the fact that Jeremy’s trying to talk to him as he reaches forward and grabs the tablet, once again switching it on and checking all the cameras. When he doesn’t see Jeremy move, he glances over to him with a chilling glare, nodding his head towards the flashlight so he gets an idea of what to do.

“The lights. Down the hallway and check the vents, keep an ear out.”

“O...Okay…” Jeremy hesitantly reaches out and grabs the flashlight before he checks the hallway, next shining it over to the sides of the room to check the vents. Thankfully, nothing seems to be there just yet, but of course that could change any moment.

“It's a Monday, they should be quiet today,” Mike mumbles as if talking to himself before switching to the prize corner, winding up the music box and then once again checking the stage. Already, two of the animatronics, Toy Chica and Toy Bonnie, have disappeared, leaving Toy Freddy the only one waiting to move. None of the older animatronics, that Mike turns the screen to introduce a slightly horrified Jeremy to, seem to have moved just yet much to Mikes relief.

“W-Why do they keep those things??” Jeremy asks as he narrows his eyes at the screen, recognizing the ripped up versions of his childhood memories. THOSE are the fluffy performers he remembers, but now? Bonnies face has been all but ripped off, It looks as if Chica’s jaw has been stuck two settings too high, now showing off multiple pairs of teeth, and Freddy is definitely just as worn out with his inside parts being visible where his joints are.

“Some kind of recycling thing, they’re goddamn cheapskates here.”

“Y-You swear a lot…”

“Is now really the time?”

“...N-no…”

“That’s what I thought. Lights,” Mike orders before once again giving the cameras his full attention, Jeremy once again shining the light down the hallway only to freeze this time around.

“M-Mike…” The boy’s voice is almost a whisper yet it still causes the man to glance over at him, following his gaze until he sees that damned fox animatronic positioned at the end of the hallway. Mike sighs and takes the flashlight from Jeremy's grip, flickering it a few times at the thing before turning it off and handing it back.

“That’s Foxy...or god, what used to be him. Just shine the light at him a few times and he’ll fuck right off to wherever he came from,” Mike explains and its obvious he doesn’t want to get too into talking about this one, the annoyance in his tone only growing from the fact his head stitches are now burning. Great. Without even thinking, he brings a free hand up to scratch at them under his hat as he goes back to camera duty, making Jeremy cringe just slightly from the sound. Thankfully, the mans far too focused to even notice the action that Jeremy feels immediately guilty for. He does try to glance over to see just what’s making the noise since it's not what scratching skin sounds like, but Mike removes his hand and the hat falls back into place before the boy can get a good look. It's probably for the best. To occupy himself once again, he shines the light down the hall and goes to check the vents, hearing what seems to be something shuffling on through.

This captures Mikes attention, he looks up from the cameras and narrows his eyes at the left vent, Jeremy following in suit and shining the light in to see what's going on. There, from the large entrance, is a strange circle shaped head with an eerie smile, eyes wide and mouth unmoving as laughter emits from somewhere in its body. While Jeremy lets out a small shirek and drops the flashlight, Mike jumps up from his seat and runs to that vent, suddenly swinging his foot back and bringing it hard against the robots face. The impact makes it slide back further into the vent and its laughter gets caught short, Jeremy's eyes going wide as he realizes what Mike just did. “Did...Did you just K-KICK it??”

Instead of answering at first, Mike just groans and kneels over to hold his hurting foot. Turns out kicking metal isn’t the best path to go, but it certainly got the child-like animatronic out of there. He can hear him shuffling back further down the vent to go disappear to a different room. “That's FUCKBOY!” Mike yells the name into the vent to be sure Balloon Boy can hear him before standing, using the wall as support as he rotates his hurt foots ankle. “He's a complete ass. Don’t let him get in here, put the mask on as soon as you see him, or else he’ll steal your fucking flashlight.”

“S-steal my...flashlight? I th-thought they’d stuff me?”

“That ones different, he’s just a little asshole,” Mike mumbles as he sits himself down in the chair, propping his feet up on the desk and turning his head to look at Jeremy. The boy doesn’t respond and just gives a thoughtful ‘hm’ with a closed mouth before looking away from mikes intimidating gaze, shining it around once again to get back to work. No doubt Balloon Boys gonna whine to his friends.

While Jeremy may have looked away, Mike certainly hasn’t. For just a few seconds, he lets himself fully examine the boy, looking at him as a person instead of a new worker that would be gone the next morning. His hair has ridiculous volume, going this way and that, and is colored a chestnut brown. Mikes eyes slowly trail down to his face where he takes note of the boys eyes, a perfect compliment to his hair since they’re a dark emerald green. He looks like the pure embodiment of innocence, his eyes giving away all his emotions...which currently seems to be curiosity with the way he glances over at Mike and makes eye contact. He could feel the man watching him, could even see him from the corner of his eye, and can’t help but feel a little creeped. “...C-Cameras? Please?”

With a quickly mumbled apology and slightly pink tinted cheeks, Mike turns back to the tablet, scolding himself in his mind for staring for so long. Why does he even care? Jeremy still has to survive the night shift alone, he...probably won’t even make it past Friday.

Why does such a thought cause an ache in Mikes heart?


	3. Hold on! - Note

Hey guys! So this isn’t an update, but it’s nothing bad.

I just wanted to let you guys know that my update this time is a little late because I’m moving! I should be settled in about two days and after that I’ll make an announcement and we’ll be back to out posting schedule!

I have so many different AU’s and ideas planned out to share, this next chapters half way written and it much longer then the two chapters so far, so please stay tuned!

In the meantime, totally give me any ideas, AU’s, etc. that you want to see written out and I’ll write them all as a ‘Im sorry for pausing my updates’ thing! Just comment it down below.

So see you guys in three days!


	4. Ocean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mermaid Jeremy and a fisherman Mike

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NOTE  
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Hey guys!! So surprise! Moving only took a day, so here’s a chapter earlier then I anticipated! We’re back to posting every 2-3 days! 

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It's the loneliness of this job that Mike enjoys the most. Of course, that wouldn’t be the best part of the job for most people, but it's something that Mike actually finds he looks forward to as he drags his boat into the water, his rubber overalls keeping the early morning water from chilling him to the bone. 

Its calm on the waters as he climbs in, taking a second to just sit at the edge of the dock with his feet in his boat, slowly breathing in the salty air of the ocean and feeling the light mist against his skin. It’s a great thing he packed his sweater today, storing it in a small bin attached to the inside of the boat to hopefully keep it dry. It’s already cold out today.

It only takes a few hard tugs to get the old motor rumbling again and with that, Mike climbs in and guides it away from the wooden docks, taking a slow left turn to go along the coast and towards where the land builds up into a cliff. On top of this cliff is a large lighthouse that shines around in the fog, directing arriving ships and letting them know just how close they’re getting to the beaches. It’s a great thing to have of course, Mike always enjoys watching it from his bedroom window as he tries to fall asleep...until you realize what other noises it brings with it. Rowdy sailors coming past with their ships, blaring the horns since they don’t realize somebody lives this far out. The loud noises giving him horrible migraines that he tries to fish away in the morning. Of course, with the help of a few pills if he can spare them, but with this budget? It's a rare treat. 

Though Mike has to admit that while the horns suck, he much prefers it over nosy neighbors further away in the town. People who try to befriend him because he's the ‘local freak’, trying to use it to make them feel better about themselves while they have no interest in Mike himself. He doesn’t want them around, he doesn’t want to have to act nice to them just to spare their feelings, he’d rather them all fuck off. He doesn’t need them. So now all the talking he does to them is when he goes to sell some fish. Even with just the minimal contact, he still finds at least one person gawking at his head scars, reminding him why he hates coming to the market so much. 

He pushes through it, making himself get out of bed, pack up frozen fish, and head to the market every Friday to make his living. It helps that he practically has a monopoly on this town. They rely on local sellers to get their food because they’re such a small town, no other cities close enough to travel to and easily get fish from. So they have to come to Mike, no matter how much most of them hate him. It’s a plus for him considering its given him a stable job here, meaning that while he doesn’t have much spending money he does certainly have a roof over his head. 

The thought makes a smirk appeared on the man’s face as he directs the boat away from the rocky cliff, heading out into the deeper water where he can be the most at peace. No matter how much they hate it, the townspeople still gotta give him money.

While Mikes so preoccupied with his thoughts, he can’t recognize the feeling of being watched deep in his gut. From under the algae covered dock, two green eyes curiously peek out and watch as he boats away, hands on one of the docks pillars to keep them above the water's surface. Soon, they sink under the water and disappear from view, the ocean waters far too fark here to see where he's gone.

When Mike finally slows his boat to a stop, he cuts the engine and lets it float a bit away, giving the fish a chance to come back in case any were scared by the noises. As he waits, he sits so he's leaning against one side of the boat with his feet propped up on the other, hands behind his head to give him cushioning to feel comfy. His gaze travels through the sky until he turns his head to stare at the cliff, chewing the inside of his cheek in thought. A long time ago, when he first moved in, a few townsfolk tried to warn him about the cliff. They say a boy, about the age of 19, fell off for reasons still unknown to this day. As Mike scans the top of the cliff's edge, he doesn’t find that hard to believe. It looks stable enough, nothings crumbly, so if somebody fell they’d have to either be extremly dumb or it would ahve had to have been intentional. Mike’s leaning towards the latter considering how unbearable the town can be at some times. The boy’s body was never found, it never washed up, having probably sunk to the bottom of the ocean to turn into a forgotten skeleton. Even now, the most popular rumor was he was led off with a siren song, something Mike refuses to believe. He’s lived out here for 5 years and never once has he hear anything that resembles singing, not even during the windiest nights. All he gets is the sounds of the ocean waves gently lapping at the sand and the occasional annoying seagull.

To sum it all up, people think this place is cursed. They warned Mike against moving out here, but he saw it as an opportunity. Nobody dares come out here because of the rumors besides idiot teenagers looking for a scare. Of course, Mike’s there to provide. He can’t help but chuckle at the memories as he sits up and grabs his fishing pole, pulling the hook into his lap and using his other hand to dig around in his bag for the worm bin. People are dumb.

Deep under the boat, in the oceans murky water, those green eyes from before watch in silence, seeing as the boat shifts to signal the mans shifting around and soon seeing him cast a line out into the water that sinks with the help of a bullet sinker. He can’t help himself as he swims over and eyes it curiously, slowly circling it before he returns to the safety of under the boat. Its best not to touch something he doesn’t know enough about.

 

Up above, all Mike does is sit back once again with the pole in his hand, content with how he’s set everything up for the next few hours. Now, he just has to wait for the fish to come in. 

\---

When the sun starts dripping down onto the horizon, Mike takes this as his signal to leave. While this is a great moment because it means he can get away from the fish he’s caught, this time around Mike finds himself grumbling and double checking his fish bin.

Nothing. There’s nothing to show for the hours he spent out on this damn water, not a single bite to reel in and sell off. This has never happened to him before, he usually catches at least one, but this time there wasn’t even a damn nibble. The man can only assume its because this is a new fishing spot, this must be the most unlucky fucking place in the world. That's what he gets for messing with his own daily schedule. He curses under his breath as he reels in the last fishing pole nearly throwing it aside before tugging on the motor cord to get going. He needs a bath. 

However, the motor sputters. With a few desperate grumbles, it goes silent and Mikes left tugging the cord a few more times, trying to get it up and running but its all for nothing. His boat has finally given out on him. With this new fact in mind, the man punches the air out of frustration and a string of curses escape, being quick to calm down however when the boat rocks threateningly. Now's not the time to let his anger escape, he doesn’t need to be soaked on top of everything else. Mike sits himself back down in the boat with a weary sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose, soon reaching down and picking up the emergency paddle off the ground. He's getting home one way or another.

He shoves the paddle into the water with a little too much force and it's a miracle the boat hasn’t thrown him out yet, pushing it back to propel himself in the water. While he’s never had to do this before...he's certain it's not supposed to push him that far forward. The boat goes a good few feet from just one push with the paddle and Mike looks around in bewilderment, soon shrugging it off. He must have put on a bit more muscle then he thought since he moved out here, but it's not like hes gonna complain. As long as it gets him home faster.

What he can’t see is down below the water, two small hands push against the boat from below and help it move towards the shore, its owner not wanting Mike to be stranded and exhausted after such a long day. It's the least he can do...right? Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like Mike suspects a thing as he paddles through the water and as soon as the creature can see the dock polls up ahead it lets go, sinking back to the depths it came from. It’s at this point that the blue eyed man realizes the paddlings gotten much harder and huffs as he puts more effort into it, thinking he must have just gotten tired from paddling so much. 

He doesn’t stop till his boat hits and rocks against the dock with a few soft thuds and tosses the paddle down, grabbing the rope next and tying his boat up from safe keeping. It may be broken, but he doesn’t want to have to buy a whole new boat. He’d be broke for sure. Mike tests the knot before he pulls his gear over his shoulder and climbs out, walking up the dirt path that starts after the dock’s wood and following it up to a small wooden shed. It takes a bit of digging in his pockets before he finds keys and gets it open, tossing his stuff in without a care before locking the door behind it. He's too frustrated for this shit. 

Finally, he makes his way up to the house so he can collapse on his couch, ready for this day to be over so he can watch some tv. There's only so much he can handle. As he reaches the door and goes to unlock it, the feeling of eyes on him creeps up his spine and he freezes. His eyes narrow at the wood in front of him before he whips around, wildly scanning over the field and beach in front of him.

There’s nothing there. He groans and suddenly the feeling of a migraine pulses in his head, making him bring a hand up to his forehead and stop caring about the fact that he feels like he's being watched. He tugs his keys back out before shoving them in the lock, clicking it open and heading inside.

If he had stopped to look for just a few more seconds he would have seen the emerald eyes watching him from the waves, disappointed and worried.

\---

It’s a pain when Mike wakes up the next morning. His head is pounding behind his eyelids and a groan involuntarily escapes his mouth, the fisherman groggily sitting up on the couch with a hand pressed to his head. He thought he would wake up after an hour or so when he fell asleep on the couch, but the horrible aches in his body tell him he's been asleep for the whole night at least. Great. No fish and a sore back, that's just what he wanted.

He gets himself off the couch and stretches to get the kinks out of his arms and legs, heading to the bathroom only to freeze on the way. It’d probably be best he goes outside and does his dirty work before showering, so he doesn’t have to do it again. He can’t help but grumble at that logical part of his brain as he grabs his coat off the rack, slipping it on and stepping outside into the cool misty air. Another chilling day. After the door slams shut, he heads over to the shed and pulls out his keys, the sound of...slapping stopping him. He freezes for a moment, just to be sure he's hearing what he thinks he's hearing before turning his head to look at the nearby docks, his eyes falling on the source of the noise: his boat.

There, all scattered on the floor, is multiple fish of all kinds. Some are still flopping while others have gone still, all still shiny and fresh as if they had been put in there minutes before. At first, Mike thinks he's going insane. He rubs his eyes before looking again, almost comically, afterwards forgetting all about his gear and going over. There's no way this is real, is he dreaming? God, this can’t be a dream, it's too real. Just to prove his theory, he kneels down and leans closer, poking at the fish and nearly falling over when the thing flops around. Yeah, it’s slimy. It’s real. 

This is way too weird. He can’t do this, so he gets to his feet, turning on his heel, and makes his way back up the dirt path to his house. The door opens with ease considering he never locked it and he's quick to slam it right behind him, about to head over to the bathroom for his long awaited shower only to hesitate and look out the window. There's no way the culprits will come back, will they? They have to be long gone by now, at least that's what Mike’s pranking experiences have been like. Probably just a couple of bored kids looking to fuck around with the grump on the cliff. 

However, while staring out the window and trying to find something to blame in the fields, his eyes trail up to the ocean. There, something pokes out of the water and moves to the boat, two human arms coming out and grabbing the sides. It heaves itself out and Mike glares, realizing the kid must have been hiding under the dock until he left, probably having laughed at his reaction. But..when the kid looks from the boat and back up to the house, Mike comes to a different realization. They look almost disappointed, no hint of a smile on their face as far as mike can tell. In the next second, the thing disappears back under the water and leaves Mike wondering what the hell just happened, scanning the beach for the kid to come back up. He has to breath, right?

 

He refuses to admit he saw the flip of a green tail as the stranger went back into the waves.

Maybe he just needs a really really cold shower. 

\--

Coming back from the market the next morning, Mike can feel the wads of cash in his pockets weighing him down and making the trek from the driveway to his house much harder then usual. After taking his shower and getting in a much better mood, he had walked out and just stared at the fish, debating dumping them all in the water, but knowing how much loss that would be. Considering he hadn’t gotten any fish himself that day…he had decided today could be his lucky day and gathered the fish, shoving them in the freezer till he could go to the market the next morning. And ohh god, was that the most business he's seen in months! He hasn’t had this much money since he first started here and people were desperate for something new.

But he doesn’t like to about how he got that fish. When people asked, he would grumble out, “nets,” and they would drop the topic. Thankfully, going to the markets with so much stock to sell took up most of his day, so he dumps the cash on the kitchen counter to count up tomorrow and makes his way to his bedroom, stripping as he goes till hes just in his boxers and t-shirt. He can worry about cleaning tomorrow, but then again he tells himself that everyday.

He doesn’t even bother to brush his teeth as he gets in bed, laying on top of the blankets and taking the time to calm himself down from recent events. Blue eyes stare up at the ceiling, deep in thought, and ears listen to the crickets outside his bedroom window, another noise soon making him tense up however.

He never believed those siren stories. Until tonight. 

His ears manage to pick up on the sound of soft singing coming from what Mike assumes is the beach and he notes how its so quiet it's like the culprit doesn’t want to be heard. Its gentle and slow, nearly mesmerizing, but not what Mike would have thought a siren would be like. There's no mind control, no urge to throw himself in the ocean...but he does certainly want to see who the hell’s disturbing his sleep.

As quietly as he can manage, he slides off his bed and ignores the feeling of the cold wooden floor on his bare feet, sneaking his way to the nearby open window. He kneels down by its side and leans to just barely peek out, narrowing his eyes to try and make out what it could be in the dark. There, sitting on the beach, is what looks to be a young man. Even though he’s so far away, Mike can see he has a full head of surprisingly dry brown hair and his figure is petite, leading him to believe they might be a woman until he gets a better look by brushing the windows curtains aside. It looks like half his tail is resting in the water, the waves lapping against his stomach, and Mike’s mind tries to tell him this is all purely coincidental. He just had somebody who decided to intrude on his beach, and they’re going to learn a lesson because of it. He's not a dumbass after all.

With another one of his famous glares, he gets up from where he's hiding and rushes to the front door, grabbing his sweater off the floor on the way since he has no idea how long this will take. He doesn't even bother with shoes however as he throws the door open and runs out, yelling at the intruder who whips around to look at him with wide eyes. Wide green emerald eyes that Mike can make out in the dark, but he can’t let that get to him right now. 

The stranger looks frozen in the water, trying to decide what to do, and it only takes a quick glance for mike to almost become the same way. There, half submerged in the water, is a green mermaid tail. The fin at the end is floating along the gentle waves coming in and its wide range of green colored scales nearly reflect and shine under the moonlight, Mike feeling mesmerized for a few mere moments and going silent. 

It's the mermaid trying to make a break for it back into the water that makes Mike bolt back into action, lunging forward and grabbing it by the arm with a tight grip before managing to drag them through the sand and further up the shore. All the while, that soft gentle voice has risen to a desperate near screech as the creature tries to get away, begging and pleading as they assume the worst, “Please-Let me go, let me go!! Stop!!” In all honesty, Mike feels a little bad. 

He's not exactly sure what to do as he finally releases the mermaid, standing straight and watching as they try to scoot further up the shore just to have distance between them. The man notices the red mark now on the poor things arm and the guilt shows on his face, watching the mermaid tries to slow his breathing as he scans Mike over. While he does that, Mike’s own eyes trail back to the tail and take it all in, inhaling heavily through his nose. That's a mermaid. A real one. 

Once again, he’s not going to let this get to him. He can’t lose his mind now. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Wh-Wha-”

“This is my beach. You’re on my beach. Now what are you doing here?”

“Y-Your beach…?”

“That’s what I said.” For a second, Mike watches as the mermaids flushed face turns from one of confusion to them huffing their cheeks out and glaring  
.  
“I lived h-here before you even st-started visiting!”

\---

Despite the shock of this being a mermaid, Mike certainly didn’t stop himself from arguing with them for a while after such a statement. While they were fighting back and forth, he took note that the mermaid seems to be enjoying himself, coming up with jabs and comebacks to the man’s annoying arguments. It’s distracting enough that soon Mike sits himself down next to the mermaid and their arguing turns into smaller bickering, laughter soon joining the mix and making the new stranger smile. Mike’s not sure why he noticed that so much. Though, eventually things go silent between them and an awkwardness from being strangers grows, Mike soon clearing his throat and looking up to the starry sky. “...So...the fish. Was that you? Were you in the water?” 

When he asks this, he turns his head to look at the other who’s quick to look away so they don’t get caught staring, their cheeks becoming blushy as they fidget with their hands. “I...y-yes...I noticed you had some troubles today, I’m sorry...I wa-was under the boat, I must have scared them off.”

“They’re scared of you?”

“I eat them,” The younger one replies plainly before going back to explaining, “I just thought I s-should bring you some fish.” Some? “Just to say I-I’m sorry. I wish I had introduced myself earlier, but...I w-was nervous.”

This fact makes Mike chuckle a bit. Mermaids have anxiety too? “So what you’re saying is my string of bad luck and brokeness is on you?” He jokes, a smile at the corners of his mouth to prove it. 

“Oh yeah, I-I’m sure you’re still pretty broke after bringing home so much money,” Jeremy jokes right back, a smile at his own lips as he looks to the man, “I saw that sm-smug grin you had.” Once again, the two laugh. Mike’s a bit loud and rough, Jeremy’s soft and gentle. Afterwards, things fall silent once again and Mike feels the urge to speak what's on his mind, chewing his bottom lip for a few seconds in thought before speaking once again.

“Are you real?”

“I-I sure hope so,” jeremy replies in nearly a whisper and it's obvious he’s not sure himself, a hint of sadness in his tone. So, Mike leans over on his elbow in the sand and pokes Jeremys cheek with his hand, grinning all the while. Jeremy swats his hand away and that lovely laugh escapes him, making Mike join him.

“You sure feel real to me,” He admits as his slight laughter dies down, not moving away from the other however. He stays there on his elbow, staring at the boy curiously as his smile relaxes. The mermaid doesn’t move himself away, instead staring right back into the man's intense gaze and feeling a small spike of anxiety. He hasn’t been this close to a human in ages. As he examines Mike, his eyes start to trail up and go over the scars decorating his head, making the skull dip down slightly in a few places. When Mike notices where Jeremys looking, he suddenly feels nervous and sits right back where he was before, looking away to instead stare at his own feet in the sand. “Heh, I uh ...yeah. S-Sorry. I promise not all humans are as ugly as this.”

“I d-don’t think it's ugly…” At this, blue eyes glance back into green and there's a chuckle, Mike soon looking back up at the sky.

“Then you would be a first,” If Mike was still looking, he would have been able to see the distress on the boys face from such a statement, “What’s your name?”

“Jeremy.”

“Cool. I’m Mike. Are you that siren everybody’s always warning me about?”

“N-No…I uh...I actually died here. I think.”

“Died?”

“I fell off the cliff, I got too comfy with it and I g-guess just forgot the dangers...I loved the ocean. When I fell, s-something happened, and I woke up li-like this. Alone,” At Mikes raised eyebrow, Jeremy can’t help but feel embarrassed, “I-It’s cheesy, I know.”

“You loved the ocean, huh. I mean, there's one thing we have in common, yeah?”

“I g-guess....It's the blue I like. It's always s-so full of life, it's kind of ironic that it caused my death you know?”

“Damn dude. Deep.”

“A-Ah shut it,” Jeremy huffs once again and crosses his arms, his cheeks heating up from being teased. However, he soon to relaxes, glancing back at Mike before he comments, “You know, y-your eyes look like the ocean.”

 

Mike has never felt his cheeks heat up so fast before, struggling to get words out and just letting out a mere, “Thanks.” How could one boy get him so damn flustered?

“Y-You know, they must have come up with me being a siren after the...event. I s-stuck around here, they couldn’t find my bo-body, and I was too scared to tell them so I’d swim away. I can’t blame them for blaming sirens.”

“How long have you been here? They tell those tales like they’re old.”

“Ju-Just ten years.”

“Are you sad?”

“Sometimes...but you’re not the only one who knows about me. My m-mom lives on a bay a ways away, I go over there sometimes to visit, but I li-like it here better.” This makes Mike silently nod. He makes a note to visit the boys mom later that week if he has time. It’d be nice to talk to somebody else, make sure he’s not totally insane.

After a few seconds of silence, Mike finds himself laying back and Jeremy looks over before following in suit, the sand shaping around their bodies to help them lay comfortably. Together, they stare up at the stars together and Mike picks up on the fact that the merboys back to softly humming, lulling him slowly into a much better sleep then he’s gotten in months.

\---

When Mike wakes up in the morning, the first thing he notes is the fact that he's alone. The next is the chilling water covering his ankles, soaking his bones to the core. He’s quick to scramble away to pull his knees to his chest and glares at the water as if its a fault, soon afterwards looking around for any sign of the mermaid. Was it a dream…?

 

Something inside him’s telling him no. With a pained groan he gets his tired and sore body up off the ground and heads up to his house to get some proper rest despite the sunlight, deciding it’s best to give himself a break from fishing today. On his way to the bedroom, he glances into the bathroom and a content grin appears on his face, the man then proceeding on his way to pass out on his blankets.

Yeah. That tub could fit a mermaid.


	5. Authors Note!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm just big dumb

Hey guys! I’m sorry I’ve been gone for so long, it really wasn’t on purpose. I’m still here!

I ended up moving out of my house, getting a new job, and getting a cat so I just got distracted :) This whole time I’ve been planning on updating and this next ones going to be big! My new update time is going to be every Wednesday, so keep an eye out!

Again, I’m sorry for disappearing! <3 See you guys this Wednesday!


	6. Full Moon (1/?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy hadn’t expected to find a werewolf wandering around in his cabin house around 6 am the night morning, napping on his couch and obviously out of it. He takes the creature into his care until he turns back to a human, who's very confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY SO I'M BACK. Heres what I have to say:
> 
> 1\. I quit my second job, which means i'm back to posting.  
> 2\. Thank you all so much for your comments, they're so motivational!! <3  
> 3\. I'm sorry this chapter is so short and bad! Its the first time I've tried writing without planning first. Never again.
> 
> Love you guys!!

One of Jeremy's biggest fears when he moved himself out to the woods was a break in. He was never one for guns, or any weapon really and with the poor cell reception and location it would be unlikely for police to reach him in time to do anything helpful. Did that stop him from deciding to live in the middle of some thick woods in an old drafty cabin that's long past being called vintage?

No. 

So every night he’d spend 20 minutes checking each lock, putting up boards to keep windows closed, and making sure if a stranger did get in, he’d have a place to hide. A bit excessive, but it put him at peace and helped him sleep at night and who was he to deny himself this luxury? After a few years spent fixing the place up and adjusting, he eventually reached the point where he didn’t worry as much. With new locks on everything and all the drafty holes fixed, he found he was too sleepy to keep doing this lock checking routine, passing out instead after merely checking the front door. He should have known better, honestly.

Last night was one of those nights. After a rough day out in the local farms, helping farmers in their fields and earning his pay, Jeremy comes home just as the sun is starting to go down. The skies are a beautiful orange and purple that puts him at ease, throwing his coat over the couch and kicking his shoes off as he walks in. With the warm summer temperatures outside, the inside of the small house has heated up to perfect nap time weather and since he has to wake up early everyday, what harm is there in going to bed now? He doesn’t have much to do even if he stays awake. 

As he makes his way to the bedroom, he can feel his eyes drooping and limbs slacking. The thought of just collapsing in all the blankets on his bed makes him smile and he does so almost as soon as he walks into his bedroom, scooting himself under one of the comforters and burying his head between two pillows just as he starts to drift off. It's pleasant. These are his favorite days. 

Just why does he feel like he's forgetting something?

-

When Jeremy opens his eyes the next morning, everything feels normal. He sits up with a pained groan and forces his eyes open, looking to the clock by his bedside to find he's woken up before his 6 am alarm. He reaches over to turn off his alarm before it decides to go off and then slips his legs over the bed, feeling around with bare feet for his slippers. His big toe feels it under the bed and he pulls them out with just his feet, easily slipping them on and taking a second to just sit there before sighing and standing. He may be used to waking up in the mornings, but that doesn’t mean he likes it. After hard days like yesterday, it's hard not to stay curled up under his blankets all day. He has things to do around his own house however and can’t stand to fall behind, the perfectionist inside him won’t allow it.

He rubs his eyes as he makes his way out of the bedroom, opening a few windows on the way to help cool his house down and let in the sounds of birds. It's his favorite thing about waking up. Considering his house is so small, he's at his kitchen in under a minute, slipping around the island counters to get to his fridge. On a free day like this, might as well make some eggs, yeah?

He grabs the egg carton full of fresh eggs from one of his farm friends and closes the fridge with his side, turning to the left towards the living room. That's when the eggs slip from his hand and his eyes go wide, not paying the carton any mind as it crashes on the floor. Sure, it’ll be a mess later, but Jeremy thinks he has a bigger problem.

There, on his couch, is a large beast laying on its side, using its arm as a pillow as it dozes on. It looks like a large wolf, but the long and straighter legs throw Jeremy off, the boy also knowing this is much larger than any wolf he's ever seen. And...why is it in his house?!

After a brief hesitation he ducks behind the counter and hides himself, his breathing fast and green eyes wide. He forgot to check the door. Him! Of all people! He would be scolding himself but instead he turns to peek over the counter, watching the beast as it sleeps. It looks peaceful, but Jeremy couldn’t care less about that. Who can tell what’ll happen when it wakes up? How long has it even been here?? 

As the young man stares at it, suddenly it lets out a startling snort that makes him duck back down, his fight or flight mode on standby. His backdoor isn’t too far, maybe he couldn just slip outside…

Then there's the sound of the couch shifting and the floorboards creaking and Jeremy knows it's gotten up. He tries to sink down more when he hears soft padded footsteps that stop for a second and are followed by sniffing. When's the last time Jeremy showered?? If he dies because of BO, he won’t be happy to say the least. When the footsteps start again he hears them coming closer and his mind starts screaming to run, but he feels like a rabbit stuck in front of a car. Fight it is then. He glances over to where the counter ends when he sees movement, sucking in a hard breath when its a large furry wolf foot. He watches as it steps directly in the broken eggs and retracts as if disgusted, the boy hearing a small grumble come from the creature. 

This is his chance.

With a yell he swings up and faces the thing, only to freeze when he finds he's standing directly in front of it. It’s standing at at least 6 feet, towering over the boy and staring down at him with beady yellow eyes, making Jeremy resort back to the frozen rabbit feeling. It seems to freeze with him as if shocked before it cocks its head just slightly, the only thing between them being the broken and oozing eggs. After what feels like an hour, but it's really only a few minutes, the creature moves forward. Jeremy lets out a squeak and stumbles back from fear, falling on his ass only to watch as the werewolf walks right around him, going to his cabinets. It haphazardly uses its long claws to swing open a few doors and sniffs around with its nose, eventually reaching in and pulling out a bag of marshmallows. It uses long fangs to rip the plastic before happily digging in, Jeremy first watching in shock...then disgust and disbelief. He carefully gets to his feet as he keeps his eyes on the thing and backs away, his hands brushing over the counter for anything he can use to attack the werewolf with. Does...Does he call an exterminator? A hunter??

Fuck, he didn’t even know werewolves existed! Perhaps this is just a horrible prank. Jeremy's fingers end up brushing over a small candle he keeps there for days he's feeling fancy and he quickly snatches it up, suddenly chucking it at the werewolves back with another small yell. It hits the creature's fur before merely falling to the floor, making it pause it's eating for a second and perk its ears. It then looks over with narrowed eyes and Jeremy continues to back away, watching as it then fully turns and snarls. 

It may not have hurt it, but it certainly pissed it off. It's marshmallow covered lips aren’t back to show its teeth, but with the way its back is hunched and its slow coming towards Jeremy makes him think it's going to attack any second...but when it gets to walking past the fridge its snarl suddenly falls and it hooks its claws around the fridge door, giving jeremy a smug look as it then opens the fridge and starts to dig around for food in there.

This makes Jeremy stop and he watches in disbelief once again as the thing raids his food supply, the boy coming to the realization that it's just...hungry. He watches as it rips open a package of ground beef, making the boy look away so he doesn’t get sick watching it eat raw meat. Gross.

“You...You can’t k-keep eating all my food…” Jeremy grumbles and hears it pause a bit, only to keep going, “And you’ll get sick!”

He now looks at the werewolf who has finished the meat, digging around in his vegetable drawer before giving a frustrated groan. It then looks to Jeremy expectantly, walking towards him in no time at all with its long legs. Jeremy goes wide eyed and backs up once more, running into the side of his couch and catching himself just in time to not fall. It stops right in front of him and sniffs around, the boy turning his head so he doesn’t get the food still on its muzzle on his face. He can’t help but gag when it pushes its nose against his cheek, getting wet marshmallow on his skin. That sound catches the creature's attention and finally Jeremys had enough, using his hands to push it away by the face. It doesn’t exactly fight him but it's still tough to get it away, Jeremy soon slipping away from being stuck between the couch and monster.

He uses the palm off his hand to try and wipe the food off himself, but it only makes it sticky. “G...God, thats gross.” He groans and then looks to the werewolf, who's still watching him with a curious glint in its eyes. “What?? God, you have...have food a-all over you.”

At this, the werewolf uses its tongue to start licking the food off his own mouth, making Jeremy huff and suddenly go towards the kitchen. The creature watches him go and then pays him no mind as it continues to clean its mouth, only to let out a grunt when suddenly a small hand turns its head. Jeremy had turned its head to make it face him and is now using a wet rag to try wiping the food off, glaring when it continues to try and lick. “St...Stop. Stop, I got it,” He huffs, not stopping until its fur is clear of food. He then takes a step back, examining the strange wolf man in front of him. At this point, he doesn’t seem dangerous. Just...dumb. It's curious as to where that food Jeremy wiped off had gone and when it can’t find it just looks at the boy with a strange look, obviously confused. 

“I th-think you’ve...you’ve uh, had enough,” Jeremy says as he tosses the rag, jumping back with a squeak when the werewolf instantly goes after it. It catches it before it can land in the sink and looks back to the boy with a happy expression, its long tail wagging behind it. This, of course, makes Jeremy let out a surprised laugh. “Oh g-god. Drop it...c’mon, give it.”

He walks towards the werewolf to get the rag from its mouth only for it to suddenly bend its knees and jump back, its tail continuing to wag. Jeremy freezes for a second before he huffs and tries to snatch it, but the monster hightails it down the hall and into the boys bedroom, only to then turn around and continue running around different areas in the house. Like a dog with the zoomies, only...much more destructive. Jeremy gasps when it bumps into one of his hallway shelves full of favorite knick knacks, darting forward and catching it before anything can fall to the ground. “HEY!”

 

That yell makes the werewolf stop in his tracks, dropping the rag to the floor and quickly putting its tail between its legs. Jeremy takes a second to set the shelf right before turning back to the thing with a glare, snatching the rag off the ground. “You have to be, be careful! This is my house, not...not y-yours! And you’ve already caused al-alo-a lot of damage!” Jeremy continues to scold and watches the thing shrink back a bit, refusing to meet the boy's eyes. When he is sure the creature has gotten the point he huffs angrily, then takes a breath to calm down. “...I...I’m sorry. I di-didn’t mean to yell.”

When his apology doesn’t help the werewolf relax, he feels guilty. He didn’t mean to make it feel so bad, he just...got overwhelmed. Speaking of which...if this is a werewolf, it should be changing back soon, yeah? It should be, Jeremy can already see the sun shining through the windows. The monster seems to notice the same thing and glances at Jeremy cautiously before going to the windows, nudging the curtains open to look outside. It lets out an impatient whimper and then looks to Jeremy, who tries his best to assume what's happening. It's obvious the creature isn’t happy so he goes over, hesitating before setting a hand on the back of its head and giving it a few slow and careful pets. When it reacts well he lets himself relax again and then goes over to the nearby couch and sits himself down in it. He pats the spot next to him and the werewolf comes over slowly, becoming more exhausted with each step he takes. It sits on the cushions and then suddenly leans against Jeremy, knocking him over so the werewolf can lay on top of him. There's no complaint from the boy, considering the things actually...soft. And warm. So he turns himself so he's on his back and the werewolves resting its head on his chest, continuing to pet it as he watches the sun rise through the window behind the couch. He can see the creature slowly falling asleep, its breath getting slow...and that's when it starts to change.

The fur seems to shrink back into the skin and Jeremy decides to look away once again, his stomach doing hurdles as the werewolf transforms on top of him. It's gross, but...Jeremys not just going to kick it off during this moment. He feels like it would make it worse. So he just sits there until he hears snores, looking down to find a man sleeping on him. His height doesn’t look like it's changed much. He's bald, shockingly, and his head is covered in various scars and a few stitches that look like they're threatening to reopen, making him shudder a bit and shift to try and get some distance. However, two arms wrap around his body and behind his back, keeping him close so the man can sleep peacefully. Jeremy just gulps and continues to watch this new stranger, knowing he's going to be stuck here if he doesn’t do anything. Will he be mad? What if he snaps at Jeremy and doesn’t remember him??

Well, the man is in his house. He could just...kick him out. With that slight reassurance he starts to squirm, rousing the man from his sleep slowly. Then, his eyes blink open and suddenly two intense blue eyes are staring right up at Jeremy, the man then quickly sitting up. His two arms are on either side of Jeremy and he's staring down at him with disbelief, examining the scared boy before he realizes what he's doing and quickly gets off. At this point, Jeremy notices this stranger is naked and his body goes tense when he realizes he was laying on top of him, his cheeks going red as he covers his eyes. “Y-You’re naked!!”

The man merely grunts as he looks around the room, grabbing a spare blanket and wrapping himself up. “Yeah, got it covered. Who are you?”

“Who are y-you?! You-You have a lot of ex-explaining to...to do!”

“Alright. I’m Mike. I’m a werewolf and I broke into your house. Your turn.” Obviously, Jeremy is taken aback. He moved his hand away from his eyes when Mike told him he was covered and now just looks at him with disbelief, then he glares and stands up. 

“Y-You’re paying for the food you ate!”

“I ain’t paying for shit,” He sneers a bit and Jeremy is once again surprised, but his anger only gets worse. He's never been one to get angry, but this man has managed to push his buttons in only a minute. “You’re just lucky you didn’t get eaten.”

He's eaten people?! At this, Jeremy wants to call the cops, but Mike notices the fear on his face. “God, don’t give me that look. This is the first time I’ve gotten out.”

“Gotten...Gotten out…?”

“Yeah. From my home. It's only my third transformation, give me a break.”

“You could have eaten me!!”

“....But I didn’t.”

\---

It took a while for Mike to calm Jeremy down enough to be able to reason with him and his snarky attitude wasn’t helping anything especially since the boy would snap right back. Jeremy got Mike to agree to paying him back for the food, but Mike convinced Jeremy to let him stay and use his shower. So here he is under the warm stream of water, trying to wash away the gross feeling of transforming. He can see the water turning brown with dirt by the time it reaches the drain and he hopes Jeremy doesn’t mind him borrowing some soap, just needing to feel clean after such a night. He's just grateful this was what he woke up to, this is much better than the other things that could have happened with him escaping his own house. Even better that Jeremy didn't call animal control on him or something worse. Soon, Mike turns off the shower and steps out, grabbing the first towel he sees and wiping himself down. 

This all started half a year ago. Mike lives not far from Jeremy's house, in a cabin of his own. He worked as a construction worker before he had made enough to go off the grid, living in a self sustained cabin and hunting for his food. Low human contact, relying only on himself, it was perfect for him. During one hunt, however, it went..bad to say the least. 

It was a wolf pack hunting the same deer as him, at least that's what he thought. They had been behind him and he hadn’t realized it until one of the deer perked up, all of them soon jumping away into the forest. 

But the wolves didn’t follow. Instead, Mike found himself surrounded. Before he knew it, it was a fury of teeth and claws that left him nearly mauled to death on the forest floor, bleeding out on the ground. They didn’t finish him because just from his screams, another nearby hunter had come running to his aid. He helped him to his own campsite and from there Mike was taken to a hospital, where he had to get plenty of stitches and stayed for a good few weeks. He was let out when he had the bare minimum care they could provide with the man having no insurance and he went back home, where his smaller wounds healed and left him covered in scars. Since then, he's preferred to pick up food instead of hunting it for himself.

Things just weren’t the same. He was terrified of the forest now and something inside of him was getting restless until one night, he woke up in blinding pain and cold sweat. He couldn’t control his body as it changed, transformed in front of his own eyes, and then he blacked out. When he came to, he merely found himself napping at his locked front door, which was covered in various scratch marks from something trying to get outside. Its previously smooth wood was splintered and it looks like long claws had dug deep, but thankfully it somehow didn’t give way. It was from him trying to get outside.

Since then, he's known what he was. Came to terms with it pretty quick in fact. When he suspects a full moon he’ll lock himself in his basement, leaving plenty of food for his werewolf self to be distracted with. When he woke up this third time however he had found himself in the boy's arms, both alarmed and relieved at the sight of another human. Coming back is always the hardest, so having somebody there to reassure him he's back was nice...but he realizes he could have mauled the boy himself. 

He sighs as he opens the bathroom door and walks out with the towel around his waist, calling out, “I’m done!”

“There's...There's clothes by the door!” Mike looks down and he can see a folded pair of sweatpants, socks, and a t-shirt which he picks up with his spare hand. He backs up back into the bathroom and leaves a few seconds later, but he then leaves with only the socks and sweatpants on. Thankfully, the sweatpants were big on Jeremy so those would certainly fit if not a little short, but the shirt was far too tight for comfort. The other already saw him naked, so does it really matter?

 

He walks himself to the kitchen where Jeremy is at the stove, frying something up that the man suspects is bacon. He must not have been able to find it when he raided the fridge before and thank god because, shockingly enough, he's starving. He seats himself at one of the stools by the island counter and watches the boy move around, thinking silently to himself. When Jeremy realizes he's there he glances back only to go pink in the cheeks, trying to pretend he hadn't noticed the fact that Mike's shirtless. “I...I’m making breakfast, so you can ea-eat something not raw,” He admits before Mike can ask, making the man smirk a bit and rest his chin in his hands.

“You’ll still feed me even after I’ve fucked up your morning this much?”

 

“I’m not a monster,” He huffs and grabs a plate from the cabinet, using a spatula to get the cooked bacon on it. He then turns and sets it on the counter, leaning against it instead of sitting in a stool himself. The two of them just wordlessly grab a piece of bacon, starting to eat without looking at each other. It's not really exactly awkward, just...strange. What do you do in a situation like this? While Jeremys considering calling animal control, Mike’s mind is in a whole other world.

This boy is actually kind of cute, he has to admit that. He glances at him for a second before swallowing his bite of bacon, deciding to talk a bit. “So...you didn’t give me your name.”

“Oh...uh...Jeremy. M-My names Jeremy.” 

“Well, I’m sorry we met like this, Jeremy,” He frowns and grabs another bacon piece, now looking at the boy with a slightly embarrassed look. “Thanks for not calling the cops.”

 

“I’m not really sure what I would have told them in all h-honesty,” He admits but doesn’t laugh, not really in the mood for jokes. Mike does however, in the form of a small snicker.

“Try going, ‘help! Giant wolf in my house, its stealing all my food!’” 

“Don’t remind me! I ju-just finished grocery shopping too,” He sighs but there's the hint of a smile at the edge of his lips, showing Mike he's breaking through the awkwardness slowly. At least it's a start. Jeremy, however, doesn’t want to joke around. He still has a lot to figure out. “Do you live cl-close to here? I can give you a ride home if you need it.” 

“Honestly? No idea,” He leans back in his stool a bit, stretching his arms over his head. “Could be miles from my place. You gotta map?”

“No...but I have a phone. Would that work?”

“Perfect.”

And with that, the two of them finish off breakfast without a word, both trying to figure out what exactly their next step should be.


	7. K(nights) Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a time of war and death, two soldiers find each other on the battlefield and end up never leaving each other's side. 
> 
> (This is placed in the witcher universe! I didn’t make either of them witchers, I just loved the idea of dangerous monsters in the woods.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has graphic fighting in it, read at your own risk! I hope this style of writing isn’t too weird, I’d love some feedback in the comments :( I’m a slow burn writer and struggle to do a regular short fanfic. So what I’ll do is probably post story beginnings here and whichever ones y’all think should be a story, I’ll finish writing and post separately cause they’re long. Please let me know!

Mike was sent out to war at the young age of 18, but really he had been a part of it since he was nearly 12. Taken from the orphanage with a few other children fit enough to train, they went straight to an army camp. They had to adjust from old creaky beds to piles of hay with a blanket on the ground, in thin tents that threatened to blow away on the windier nights. He had some rather sleepless times as a result, spending those countless hours staring at the ceiling of the tent wondering if what the soldiers have been telling them is true. 

This is the best path to follow, this is a gift that you don’t have to stay in the orphanage anymore. You’re defending your home they say, but all Mike can wonder is ‘what home?’. He had no place to call his own before he was brought to this camp where they wake him and his fellow brothers at dawn to train them with swords and fists to the point where he's about to collapse. Then they send him to the tent to sleep and repeat the next day. The soldiers they train with tell them this is an honorable job, he should be proud, but then why do the local villagers try to take and hide them when they pass through towns? And then later, as they grew into young soldiers, spit at their shoes in disgust? 

This doesn’t feel like something he should be proud of, he thinks, as he drags a villager to the hanging tree for ‘treason’. They scream and kick at him, but after such intense training all his life it does little to nothing to him. He hands them over by the ropes holding their wrists together to the executioner and few villagers are brave enough to yell hateful words from the edge of the town, while others pretend nothing is happening. 

He knows he shouldn’t be proud of this, he finds himself thinking once again as he throws the match that sets a home on fire, villagers screaming around them as their houses and lives go up in flames. Another raid, more blood on his hands, and Mike is finding himself lost in his thoughts. There's a hard pat on his back that brings him back to the present and he looks to the side to find his general, an annoyed look on his face as he looks down the road. “Scouts say they’ve spotted enemy fires in the distance, possibly now advancing on us from all the noise here. Are you ready for a fight, soldier?”

A fight. How many fights has he been in at this point? When isn’t he ready? He's never able to relax. Always feels like something is about to jump him. However he gives a silent nod to the general, who gives a nod back and then heads over to where a merchant has abandoned his stall. Probably to steal coin, gather extra supplies. Poor merchants won’t have anything left by the time they move on, granted he's even still alive. It's unfortunate that this general is the one that's been in charge of his training, practically being the only parental figure in his life.

He isn’t proud of this.

He draws his sword from his belt, looking to where the general had indicated the army would be coming from. That's right, there's an enemy. Sometimes it feels like they're fighting the whole country they're trying to conquer and he forgets there's somebody they’re fighting against. It's the country's own makeshift army. They’re smaller in numbers, but the fires inside them burn bright as they try to fight for their lives back. The wars have been going on for years and yet they never cave in, no matter how many soldiers they lose. More just rise up to take their place. All merely villagers who grabbed a sword and decided to fight.

Mike has killed plenty of them and knows he will have to kill plenty more as he hears the telling sound of their war horn, indicating the start to the fight. Sure enough he sees the first few soldiers over the horizon and he tightens his grip on his sword, the heat burning on the side of his face from the buildings they’re burning down.

He can’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, they might be the bad guys. 

When the time comes for Mike to swing his sword, it makes contact with one of the other soldiers that advance on him with only a dagger, trying to stab his side but getting much more than he bargained for. The side of Mike's blade hits his neck and cuts it to his spine, making him drop his knife and choke on his own blood. By the time Mike pulls his sword out by kicking the others chest and pushing him to the ground, the poor man is dead. Mike only looks at him for a second and for once he feels a...burn inside his chest. It's painful. The soldiers' eyes had stayed open and now they’re staring empty up at Mike, eyes that were previously full of life. A father. A hunter. Maybe he was even the general for this group of soldiers. Regardless, he died fast at his hands and Mike knows he’ll remember him when he tries to go to bed tonight. He’ll haunt him for the rest of his life. 

When Mike comes back, he can hear the fighting around him. Sounds of slicing flesh, screams, yells, and fire crackling and buildings collapsing. Livestock stuck in their pens as the fires burn around them and families still inside their flaming homes. He caused this. He's caused...all of this.

The fire in Mike's chest bursts and when he gasps for breath it’s like a breath of ice cold air despite the flames around him. His eyes go wide and he hears his sword clatter on the ground, looking around at all the damage. So many deaths, so much violence. So, so much pain.

He's the reason for all of this, he’s burnt so many villages, killed so many for years and years. How did he get here? How did they do this to him?

All the man knows is he can't do this. He can’t kill another human, he can’t ruin another life. The building's roof in front of Mike suddenly collapses and shoots sparks at him that burn his skin, causing him to hiss in pain and take a few steps back. The sound of a pained yell pulls him from his thoughts suddenly and his heart feels like it's going to rip, knowing that if he doesn’t do something then that will be another life he's ended. There's somebody trapped inside that building that's aflame because of the match he threw. He can’t, he can’t do this again.

Without another thought he suddenly sprints forward and slips into the part of the house not yet down, the hot flames around trying to lick at his skin. The middle of the roof had collapsed in what looks like used to be a rather large cottage and Mike can only squint his eyes to try and see who let out that noise, the heat singing his eyelashes. Then, he manages to spot just slight movement. A boy. 

No, a soldier. He's taken his helmet off and is gasping for breath, a support pillar having fallen over on his leg and pinned him. The flames on the pillar are burning his skin, melting away the pant leg and Mike knows he has to act fast, running over and grabbing the wood with his bare hands. While the heat is trying to tell him to move away, making the palms of his hands practically sizzle, he instead grips tighter and pulls the wood up and away from the soldier, who looks up at Mike with bewilderment. There's no words between them as Mike suddenly grabs his arm and roughly slides him on the wooden floor away from the wreckage just before another part of the roof collapses, landing right where the young soldier had been previously. The man then leans down and hooks an arm under the strangers, half lifting and half dragging him out of the house. He gets them both through the opening mike had slipped in through and then he collapses, pulling the soldier with him as both their bodies are trying to cough up the smoke they inhaled during the short period of time. The fight is still going on around them but none of the soldiers pay them any mind as they rush around, Mike flinching at the sound of swords clashing together and the cries of pained soldiers. He can hear the single soldier he saved whimpering in pain next to him and he knows his job isn’t over yet. If they stay here, they’ll both be killed by whoever comes across them first. 

Mike pushes through his pain, once again leaning over and hooking an arm around the boy to get him to his feet. He can’t see well considering the heat had nearly ruined his eyes but regardless he manages to get them away from all the bloodshed, both of them having to help support the others weight as they head away and towards the edge of the forest. Before they can make it, Mike collapses and both of them go tumbling down into an overgrown ditch, rolling down the hill and into tall grass that covers their bodies. Mike hadn’t lost his grip on the stranger and instead pulled him closer when they started rolling, keeping him to his chest and trying his best to protect him. He can hear the soldiers' pained cries when the ground hits his leg but neither of them can stop, having to wait until they settle at the bottom. There's a small stream going through the middle of the ditch that's ice cold when Mike lands on his back in it, the man shuddering but not able to move as it soaks through the back of his clothes. On his chest is the boy, nearly passed out from the pain but still alive, and now Mike can see the green war paint decorating his face and arms. He's wearing homemade leather armor that only covers his chest and is covered in soot, most of his exposed skin on his arms and obviously his legs are peeling and bleeding from the burns. Mike can feel his shaky breaths that prove he should be okay, just in pain.

However, Mike now knows he's saved one of the many soldiers he's killed. This boy is part of the enemy's army and he's currently lying in Mike's arms. He knows he should kill him using his own two hands if he has to...but he can’t. He can never do that again. So he just holds him for these few seconds as they both try to recover, the sounds of fighting more distant than ever. 

They can’t stay forever though, even though exhaustion threatens to take Mike away. He sits up with a pained groan and helps the soldier to his good foot, getting up with him and this time the hurt soldier wraps an arm behind Mike for extra support. Together they limp into the thick forest surrounding the burning village and get a few trees deep before once again they collapse, the two of them leaning against the base of a tree to keep themselves up and alert. At this point, the injured boy has realized this isn’t his brothers helping him, his eyes open as much as he can get them. He's just staring at Mike and knows if the man wanted him dead then he wouldn’t be standing here, Mike staring right back with a look of guilt and pain. 

Guilt, huh?

“...Y...You saved me….Wh-Why…?” (‘Mm. Monkey.’)

Mike doesn't answer and just looks down to the boy's hurt leg, frowning at the sight of charred skin and an obviously broken bone. The soldier is all too aware of what a broken limb feels like, taking the boys arm and guiding him to sit down on the dirt. “You need medical help.”

“O-Our medics dead,” The boy says quietly and watches Mike start to check out his leg, hoping he doesn’t say it needs to be amputated or anything horrid like that. It hurts, sure, and it looks bad, but...oh god, he's going to lose his leg, isn’t he?

“So is ours,” Mike grumbles and looks out of the forest, only able to see the fires burning in the distance. They shouldn’t be able to find them here, meaning they’re both safe. “Why were you in that house?”

The boy doesn’t answer and Mike looks over in time to see the look of shame that crosses his face, but the smaller soldier looks away when he realizes mikes watching him. Mike just saved an enemy soldier, why is he scared to admit that he was hiding? However, he doesn’t have to speak for Mike to understand. He used to try to hide when he was first sent into battle, but they always forced him right back out. Eventually, he gave up.

“You were scared.”

“I was not scared!”

“Don’t lie to me,” He sneers a bit and glares up at the boy, who has a flash of fear cross his face. 

“...Okay, I was a little scared,” he admits quietly and now feels a burning shame, realizing now how he has abandoned his army and his home. God...if they lost this fight, it’ll be hard not to blame himself. 

“And you tried to hide.”

“And I tr-tried to hide,” This time his voice is a whisper and he sounds close to tears, making Mike realize he may be pushing the stranger a bit too far. With a frown he just continues to check the others leg, relieved to find it's burnt but nothing he hasn’t seen before. No sight of any muscle, just red skin and peeling. He can fix this, but not now. They have to find a safe place and an alchemist. 

“...Hiding isn't bad,” Mike suddenly says without looking up to the boy, slipping his chest armor and helmet off before taking off his shirt. He tears off the part still soaked with ice cold water from the creak and hesitates before gently setting it on the boy s burned areas, wrapping it around and trying to ignore the pained hiss as a result. “This war is bad. Hiding is smart, you would have died.”

“H...Hiding almost killed me,” He mumbles after recovering from the pain of the cloth on his injuries, but he doesn’t flinch. The cold water brings just a smidge of relief to his pained body. “I was a coward. They would throw me out if they knew what I did.”

“Is that so bad?” This catches Jeremys attention and he looks at him with a shocked look that quickly turns to confusion. 

“O-Of course it's bad, what do you mean? I was supposed to fight for my home, for my people, but...I didn’t. I fled. I left the war.”

“It wasn’t a battle worth fighting. You knew when to turn away. Can you stand?” Mike asks and Jeremy tries to move his leg, wincing from the pain that shoots up in his body.

“Not without support.”

“That's what I thought,” He seems a bit displeased but wraps an arm under the boy's shoulders, lifting him up once again. “There's a village nearby our troops weren’t going to touch, they paid us good food to keep us away. We can go there.”

“You’re...You’re still helping me…?”

“Would you rather I leave you for the corpse eaters?” Silence is the answer Mike gets, the boy tightening his grip on mike. “That's what I thought.”

With that, the two start making their way deeper into the forest, Jeremy taking a glance back at the fight still going on with a guilty look and a tightening heart.

Mike however...Mike will never look back. Ever. 

\--- (So just so we’re all on the same page, this mark means a timeskip!)

They nearly got lost more times then Jeremy could count on his fingers. With both of them exhausted and hurt, it was hard keeping their mind on where to go, but with Jeremy's knowledge of the land he guides Mike through the woods. He leads them away from dangerous areas where monsters lurk and towards this village the soldiers are explaining. It ends up being a little less than a day's trip and by the time they can spot the first few farms in the distance, they both nearly collapse from exhaustion. However, fear pushes them forward. When it’s not Mike pushing them forward, it’s Jeremy. When it’s not Jeremy, it’s mike. They take turns holding each other's weight as the other gains strength and, very slowly, they make their way to the village.  
As soon as Mike can see the first few people he stops the other soldier, looking around before starting to pull him towards a bunch of trees at the edge of the town. “Wh-What are you doing?”

“Hiding us,” He says and gets them behind the miniature forest, instructing Jeremy to sit in the grass. At this point, with the trust he has in Mike he does just that, peeking between openings between the tree trunks to see the village. 

“Did you see something b-bad…?” When Jeremy turns back to look at Mike he finds the man getting his armor off, the boy realizing now what's happening. Mike's army is practically an enemy to anybody living here and if they saw him alone...he’s as good as dead. So the boy manages to sit up with a pained grunt, licking the tip of his thumb before moving forward and placing it on Mike's cheek. Of course, the man freezes and nearly goes into fight mode, only to realize that the soldier is shakily wiping his war paint off, helping him erase his past identity. He doesn’t stop Jeremy and just kicks off his boots, waiting patiently for Jeremy to get all the paint off before he gathers his gear and hides it in the long grass around them. 

Now, he’s only wearing a thin and baggy white shirt with some mud stains and brown pants, his socks being the only thing protecting his face. Now, Jeremy can see all the scars decorating his body, a look of surprise and awe on his face for a second before he clears his throat and gives a nod. “Y-You look like a farmer, I think you’ll be okay.”

“I’ll be back by 70 long taps on your hand, yeah?” He asks and kneels down to take the boys hand, showing how to do these ‘long taps’. It's like if you were to start fidgeting, tapping your fingers, but timed. A personal stopwatch of sorts. “Don’t lose the pattern. If i’m not back by then, come to the village yourself. They’ll help you.”

Jeremy just gives a silent nod and watches as his hands fall from Mikes before he watches Mike walk off, brushing some dirt off his clothes in an attempt to look presentable. As soon as the man reaches the edge of the village he starts the slow taps, a feeling of anxiety blossoming in his gut. 

Mike walks into the village with anxiety of his own, but he keeps his poker face. He gets a few looks from villagers and while he can’t hear what they’re saying, the fact that they don’t look pissed is a good sign. He must look like one of them enough, he should be safe. So with that he makes eye contact with a bored looking man leaning against a fence post near the path, giving him respectful nod. “Do you know where I would find an alchemist?”

“Aye. Why you needin an alchemist?” He sneers a bit and shows two missing bottom teeth, a few others black. His words are slurred and Mike assumes hes a bit tipsy, but who can blame him during these tough times? Thankfully, Mike is good at thinking on his feet.

“Got a sick youngin 'at home. Need some herbs our alchemist don’t have,” He says without a moment's hesitation, noticing the glint of hurt in the others eyes. Perhaps he's drinking for another reason then the war, a plague had just swept the land by the time the war started getting serious. 

“Can’t say our alchemist can do much. Rather useless. Down the road, take a right, usually got ‘is fire burning so just look fer the smoke.” At this Mike gives a nod and the man watches him go with a frown. What Mike doesn’t see, however, is the small metal that falls out his pocket, something that could be mistaken as a mere coin. Regardless, it now lays on the dirt road, left behind by the soldier.

He did manage to find that alchemist using the thick smoke coming from the home's chimney, giving a quick knock on the wooden door. He can hear the sound of clattering and then cursing, but in the next second the door opens. A rather short and thin man is standing there, giving Mike the stink eye as he tries to size him up. Mike can already tell he’ll be a pain to deal with.

“Can i help ya?”

“I need a mixture of chamomile and honey, about 25 bizant worth.” The man seems surprised by his bluntness but does appreciate it, still not lightening up as he goes into his house. He beckons for Mike to follow him in and the man does so, closing the door quietly behind him. He watches as the alchemist walks around, examining his organized shelves and then pulling down two jars, bringing them to his what Mike can only assume is his work bench. As he starts to make the concoction, he speaks. 

“I’ll need the payment now, can’t trust anybody these days.” There's no argument from mike. He takes his coin purse off his belt and digs around for the coins, soon taking them out and setting them on the edge of the table the mans using to work on. He stops mixing and looks to the coin pile for a second, seemingly satisfied considering he gets right back to finishing up Mikes order afterwards. “So...a burn, yes?”

Mike should have known he’d realize what this would be for, he does this for a living after all. He just gives a hum to say yes, watching the man pour the honey in with the herb. “Words reached here that a fire has burnt down the village nearby. Could you, perhaps, be coming from that?”

This time, the soldier doesn’t respond. He feels that sense of anxiety and knows he has to act fast, hoping the alchemist assumes he was one of the villager farmers instead of the reason it burnt to the ground. “Y...Yes. My family and I managed to escape, but some of them had gotten burnt. We just need the treatment and then we’ll be on our way.”

“Where do you plan on going, hm?” Mike hadn’t thought of this of course, now becoming a bit annoyed with the man's question. It certainly shows in his tone.

“Away.” And with that the man turns to Mike, hanging him the bottle of honey and chamomile, giving him a smile much happier than when he first got here.

“The best of luck to you and your family.” The soldier just gives a nod and thanks before he leaves the house, a voice making him stop as he exits through the door however.

“So...a sick youngin, huh?” The slurred words are all Mike has to hear before he realizes this is the man from before, looking up and freezing right outside the alchemist's door with a surprised look. Guess he didn’t get enough of a conversation before, Mike shouldn’t have told him where he was going.

“That is what I said, init it?”

“Ah yeah...yeah, it is,” The stranger frowns before he starts to dig around in his pockets, catching Mike's eyes. Suddenly, he feels a blossoming fear in his stomach and instinctively his hand goes to his own back pocket, realizing that his soldier's metal isn’t there. Its purpose was so he could be identified if he died...but it might just be the reason he meets his end, he assumes when he sees the way the peasant glares at him. Sure as hell he pulls that very metal from his pockets and shows it to mike, the silver glistening in the sun. 

At first, Mike doesn’t say anything, just opening his mouth to say something, but suddenly he's all too aware of two other men around them. One leaning against a tree by the path, another coming from around the alchemists house. They both have sticks in hand and Mike realizes he's not welcome here and who can blame them? He's one of the reasons so many neighboring villages have been ruined, he and the army he's apart of are considered a curse on this land. 

He wants to bolt. He knows it's the smarter choice, he could get severely hurt trying to take on all three of them at once. However, when the thought crosses his mind, a small confused voice comes from where the path leads towards the village. All four men look over to see Jeremy, who has a look of worry and is having to lean his weight on his better leg to stand up. 

“Mike…? What-” Jeremy doesn’t get to finish that sentence because Mike suddenly takes in a sudden sprint, taking everybody by surprise, and goes straight for the younger man. In a quick and rough action he grabs Jeremy off his feet and holds him bridal style, hearing him let out a small pained yelp. He doesn’t stop however because he can hear the yells of his attackers behind him followed by footsteps pounding on the dirt, the chase having only just started. He knows he can’t go back towards the village, they’ll get too much attention, so he takes a hard right into the fields between the village and the forest, just praying the human activity here wards off any monsters or animals. 

Of course, the other men hesitate but one chases right after them, the other two following soon after to join their friend. Mike knows he has a good headstart plus more training then they do, meaning he’ll be okay, but with the weight of jeremy in his arms? God, why did he have to hurt his legs?!

He's panting for breath by the time they reach the first few trees of the forest, but he doesn’t stop there. He keeps going even as the terrain gets rough and rocky, praying to not trip on any roots as he tries to shake off the men. He can hear them getting distant but the way they yell tells Mike they aren’t going to stop anytime soon, the man slowing to a quick stop when he reaches a rocky cliff. The jump isn’t far, going down into a creek, but he knows he can’t keep doing this with the injured man in his arms. So carefully he uses just his feet to slide down the steep slope until he reaches a ledge covered in a large bush. Carefully he puts his friend down who gives him a worried look, Jeremy gently grabbing Mikes arm so he can’t leave. He goes to speak, but Mike beats him to it. 

“I’ll be back for you.” He uses his own hand to gently pry jeremys off of him and gives him a small nod before he helps hide the boy with the bush, then he turns and slips down the rest of the slope. His feet smack against the shallow water just in time for the men to reach the cliff, yelling profanities down at him as they try to follow. He takes off in a sprint again before they can realize he doesn’t have Jeremy in his arms, hearing them hit the water and take off after him.

By now, the trees are getting thicker and their leaves are blocking out more sunlight, worrying Mike. There's no telling what he could run into out here and frankly, he's not too keen on figuring it out. He needs to get this over with. Without a second's hesitation he suddenly turns on his heel and sprints towards the men, who are taken aback when the person they’re chasing suddenly turns the table on them. Mike crashes hard enough to knock both of them onto the forest ground and then scrambles to his feet, stomping his foot down on the stranger's chest. He can hear him get his wind knocked out and feels a whack against his back from one of the man's weapons, letting out a cry and stumbling forward. He swings around with a fist and nearly makes contact with the attackers face, quickly taking a step forward and ramming into him with his shoulder. He doesn’t get to do much more because the third man rushes forward and tries to tackle him, but he digs his feet in the mud to hold his ground. Turning just in time he wraps his arms around the man in turn and twists him around, throwing him to the ground. As a result, he loses his stick and MIke quickly nabs it up, jumping over his fallen body to put some distance between him and the last person.

The first one is still gasping for breath on the ground thankfully, but the second is quick to recover. He grabs Mike's foot to try and trip him but the soldier slams his foot down, smashing his fingers and palm. That causes him to cry out in pain, yet he doesn’t let go. Thankfully, his pull is weakened enough to not be able to trip Mike when his guard is up, the man just tugging his leg out of the weak grip. However, it did distract him well enough. This is something he realizes when the third smacks him upside the head with the stick, making him see dots and fall over. Before he can register what happened, the third is on him, trying to continue to smack him. The best Mike can do is put his arms in front of his face in a defensive position, trying to get himself together to get up. It was a nice try, he thinks to himself, at least the boy will be safe, yeah?

Above him, the man suddenly lets out a yell and then growls, taking his attention off of mike. “Yeah, that's what you get, ya...ya jerk!” Jeremy’s voice brings Mike back to reality and he peeks between his arms to see the boy panting a distance away, grabbing another rock to throw off the forest floor.

Now, just why can’t jeremy fucking make this easy and stay put?! 

At this point, the second man is helping the first up off the ground and the third gives Mike another kick to keep him down, then he turns to Jeremy with his weapon up. This makes Jeremy falter slightly before he narrows his eye, getting ready for a fight. Then, the man hesitates. His weapon drops a bit and he narrows his own eyes to examine the boy, then he looks back down to Mike. 

“...is this...is this some kinda joke?” He asks with disbelief in his tone, catching the attention of the two other men. “Yur on our team.”

“I…” Jeremy doesn’t seem like he was prepared for such a question. He looks at the man and falters, lowering the rock he was about to throw once again.

“That paint on your face, this is your home,” The first man steps forward and glares, not lowering his weapon however. There's no good reason for these two, these enemies, to be together, he thinks to himself. A spy, maybe? “Why are ya with him!”

At this, Jeremy looks at Mike. He has a look of pain that passes on his face at the sight of the man being injured, but he then looks back to the men. “He saved m-me.”

“He what?” The man doesn’t bother to hide his surprise and now glances back down the mike, giving a small snarl before he finally lowers his weapon and walks towards Jeremy. This makes worry spike in Mike considering he thinks they’ll attack him, but then he hears their quite hushed tones. One man stays by Mike and the other just tries to listen in, the two sounding like they’re having an argument with the anger in their tones. However, nobody can make out what they’re saying.

Soon, the man turns away from Jeremy and to his friends, motioning them over. Jeremy himself rushes past them and straight to Mike, getting on his knees by his side to help prop him up. It's obvious he's in pain with the way his face twists when he moves, but that's the last thing on his mind. 

“We’ll be going,” The first man says to his friends who just look over confused at Mike and Jeremy, Mike giving a hard glare. The three shockingly leave without another word and the two are alone, Mike finally relaxing in his friend's arms and looking relieved. 

“What did you...What’d you say?” 

“I’ll tell you later. We n-need to leave.”

\--- 

Neither of them are sure exactly where they’re going, walking through the land and avoiding the paths. They don’t need the attention. Occasionally they hear the sound of talking, footsteps, anything signalling life and they have to duck down into the overgrowth, silent and praying they won’t be found. Eventually, their feet step forward and suddenly sink into the ground, Mike wincing and finally coming back to attention as the freezing water soaks into his shoes. “Where…?”

“The sw-swamps, my brothers already made their way through here. They won’t be back anytime soon,” Jeremy explains in a hushed tone as he guides Mike further into the ankle deep water, the moss and mud making squelching noises under their toes. “Its...it’s gross, I know, but once w-we get past here we should be safe to settle for a bit in the woods.”

“Good with me. Clothes were dirty anyways,” Mike sighs. At this point, he notices just how much Jeremy is struggling each time to lift his injured leg and foot out of the mud, infections passing the man's mind. The boy still has his leg, he doesn’t need to lose it now. So Mike easily leans over and swoops the boy up bridal style once again, getting a surprised yelp out of him. This makes him grin and look at the soldier as they go, slowly but surely. 

“That w-was unnecessary.”

“Your leg was hurting you, I’m helping.”

“I can carry myself.”

“I’m not putting you down, so ya can stop complaining,” Mike ends their conversation and Jeremy frowns at him, but then just puts an arm around the man's shoulders for support. Jeremy looks up while Mike tries to focus on just walking, being his eyes for the time being. For once, Mikes thankful for the intense training he was put through, his arms barely tire...but Jeremy is most definitely underweight, so that adds to it. 

“Mike, stop.”

“Why? So I can put ya down? Already told ya, its not-”

“Mike, STOP!” The boy grabs the back of Mike's neck out of fear and finally the soldier looks back forward, face to face with a strange green gas. Already Jeremys breathed some of it in and the man has to stumble back to get him out of it, afraid by the fact he's coughing and struggling to breath. His foot gets stuck in the mud and the two of them fall back in the water, splattering mud on their armor and skin. It takes a few seconds before Jeremy can get a shaky breath in and wipes his eyes, trying to look at that gas in front of them. Surprisingly it doesn’t seem to have moved, coming from the ground itself. “P-poison gas.”

This makes Mike become fully alert and he quickly sits up, getting through the mud and helping the boy sit up. Jeremys still coughing but Mike getting up off the ground helps the airflow, taking a shuddering breath. “Oh shit, jesus, are you okay?!”

“I-Im fine,” Jeremy huffs and gently pushes on Mike's chest, asking for some room for himself. The man does give it, much to his credit, but still hovers nearby in case Jeremy needs any help. So of course he notices when the boy looks to the gas once again, his green eyes going wide in fear. This makes Mike jump to his feat and spin to face the threat, noticing only black wavy shadows in the green fog. “Mi-Mike, get me up, we have to go-”

“What are those?” Mike demands and tightens his hands into fists, ready to fight whatever those are. The shadows are slowly getting bigger and Jeremys becoming more panicked, grabbing onto Mike's leg. 

As soon as the shadows start to take shape and Mike can hear their raspy, water clogged breathing he knows full well what they are. Drowned. People who lost their way in the water and are making the living pay for it. By the time the first one is close enough that Mike can smell their rotting flesh Jeremy is once again in his arms, the soldier trying his best to run through the mud. First, he starts going back the way they came but Jeremy directs him to the left, knowing more could have smelt their path and appeared. If they go right, there will be an ocean and they’ll likely become drowned themselves.

So left it is. Jeremy and Mike cling tight to each other as the boy warns him of anything in front of them, even looking over Mike's shoulder at the group of living corpses chasing after them. When one gets too close for comfort, Jeremy starts to dig around in his shirt pocket, pulling out one of the stones he had gathered from their tussle in the woods. He throws it as hard as hes able with the weird angle and knocks it in the head, but much to the boy's horror it only pisses it off more, sprinting faster when it recovers. “Can you go fa-faster?!”

“There's mud in my shoes!”

“And there's corpses behind us!!”

“YEAH, I’M AWARE!” Jeremy only becomes more panicked now and once again looks behind them, noticing something to the side however. A crashed carriage, its wood splintered and up against a tree. There's various boxes scattered around but only one catches the boy’s eye, labeled with bright red writing.

Oh, he knows what that is. He throws his second stone at the boxes this time instead of the drowned still after them and suddenly the pair are sent forward by a strong blast, landing face first in the dry dirt outside of the swamp. They both let out a cry when their sore bodies land on the hard ground and are quick to turn to their backs, relieved to see that most of the drowned have been blasted to bits by an explosion. Jeremy knew that carriage, it had been one of theirs apprehended by the enemy when trying to make their way back to camp. They must have run and crashed here...Jeremy doesn’t want to think what happened to them after that. 

He's a bit thankful they did, however. They had been carrying explosives disguised as cargo boxes, something that would explode if it splintered even slightly. A bit magical, probably made by a local witch, but its purpose was to be able to be transported under the radar. Something townsfolk could plant around without question. Jeremys helped plant plenty of them around the camps, it's practically a minefield. 

“What the..hell...was that,” Mike asks with a pained groan, his body cracking as he forces himself to sit up. Jeremy doesn’t do the same, just lying back on the grass in sore pain. It's going to take a bit to recover from this. 

“A...A bomb. An explosion. W-Worked, didn’it?” he asks with a weak laugh, turning his head to look at the man. Mike watches him with a bewildered look before the edge of his lips twitch up, the man looking away and back out at the swamp. Funny just how many near death experiences he had since meeting this boy...It’s probably the first time he's happy none of them actually killed him. 

“You’re fuckin insane.”

“Yo-You’re the one that saved me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY SO YEAH THIS TOOK ME FOREVER AND I'M SORRY ;n; I wish I could upload consistently, but i’m going to stop putting a limit on myself until the future is better. Hopefully this means I’ll get more chapters out though because I’m not stressed!
> 
> And please remember, if you want any of these to become full stories, tell me!! I’ll probably write up the more romantic scenes for this au in the next chapter so this book can finally have some kissing.


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